The Data Squad Revived
by skyline213
Summary: When a certain girl and a certain 'mon' meet, things start to take a turn for the worst. Old grievances, trauma, and mental scars resurface as the torrents threaten to sweep Cecily Pinion into the pits of despair. What will become of her and her newfound friends and family? Rated T for safety. First story; helpful suggestions? Summary's bad, but the story is decent... maybe.
1. Sepia Photo

_Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon/Digital Monster for they and all related trademarks belong to Bandai (hence the term 'Fan fiction'). The story, its original contents and ideas, and any OCs belong to the author. That's right, if I see it anywhere else, I'm not going to be a happy camper._

**Chapter 1: Sepia Photo**

A small girl stepped into a room, looking around in curiosity as an old man chuckled. His withered frame wasn't hunched over, but rather tall and straight, with a youthful spring in his step and glimmer of amusement in his eyes at the girl's fascination. He stroked his white beard in thought as he regarded her, an idea playing in his head.

The girl's mahogany hair had been tied back into a pretty little ponytail, swinging like a pendulum when she looked around. The sundress she wore was perfect for the warm temperatures outside, a pale green with yellow flowers embroidered into the soft fabric. She was so busy taking in her surroundings, she didn't notice the old man slipping silently into a different room.

In that other room, the old man donned a tough leather glove and soundlessly went into the mews. A beautiful white bird greeted him with a soft burble, ruffling its feathers in response to his presence as he continued to a particular bird. The bird was a skinny Japanese Sparrowhawk that he had taken in when the previous owner couldn't seem to get it to respond to signals. In fact, the bird had footed the previous owner quite badly. No doubt due to an improper upbringing, which caused it to shy away from humans. It was a female, easily discernable due to her darkly barred under-parts and gold eyes that were hidden underneath her hood. They were reminiscent of the girl's. And this bird was free-spirited, not easily broken... just like the girl. The sparrowhawk wouldn't even take food from his hands, but maybe, that girl could.

If anyone could reach the bird and soothe her unhappy spirit, it was that little girl. With a smile at that comforting thought, he quickly undid the jesses with a practiced precision and lightly tapped the back of the bird's legs, causing her to step up onto his gloved hand.

He briskly walked back into the room where the girl was, being careful not to let the bird lose her balance.

"Grandpa, what are you doing with the bird?" The girl asked curiously, tilting her head to one side in confusion.

"I'm holding her," He replied calmly, handing the girl a small piece of meat, which she looked at with a perplexed expression. She never had an aversion to handling raw meat, considering she helped feed his birds sometimes. But she never fed the particular bird that he held right at that moment. "You'll be feeding Skye with that, Cecily."

"Oh," She said, understanding flooding into her expression then.

With his free hand, he undid the hood and slowly took it off the sparrowhawk's head. As soon as the hood was fully off, she began beating her wings and screeching, trying desperately to bate.

"Shh..." His granddaughter hushed soothingly, inching closer until the panicked bird's wings brushed her face.

The bird calmed when she looked into Cecily's eyes, gazing at the mirrored gold orbs.

"It's okay," Cecily soothed, holding out the piece of meat. "You're probably real hungry after going for so long without eating."

The old man cocked his brow when she said that. He never told her anything about Skye's self-induced fast. It just went to show how deep her understanding of birds was, even if she was only six. To add further to his amazement, Skye leaned forward and plucked the small tidbit delicately in her beak, bringing it to the fist she perched on and holding it in her talons as she tore off small bits.

"There," Cecily said in satisfaction, rocking back on her heels as she cocked her head at Skye. It was an oddly bird-like gesture, but it seemed fitting for her as she studied the sparrowhawk. "That wasn't so hard, now was it?"

Skye merely burbled in response.

Cecily surprisingly reached out, ruffling the feathers on Skye's breast. The sparrowhawk didn't foot the girl like she would the old man, but just let it happen before bending down to work on her meal again.

It was nothing short of a miracle.

The old man grinned and gazed at the portrait hanging on the wall. It was done in pastels, and the artist had trouble doing it because the falcon wouldn't stay still, but it turned out better than anyone anticipated. It was a portrait of him when he was a young man, holding a beautiful white Gyrfalcon.

_I was just like you when I was but a lad, CeeCee_, He thought as Cecily gazed intently at Skye, making sure that the sparrowhawk got as much as she needed. Yes, he had an understanding of birds when he was younger, but it wasn't quite like Cecily's. Her ken of raptors was far deeper.

She was special.

* * *

The shrill sound of the alarm clock abused the ears of a sleeping girl, who snaked her hand out from the covers and fumbled around on the nightstand with a soft moan. She tapped around to find where it was, looking for the annoying plastic device with glowing green numbers. She quickly hit the snooze bar, relieved from the nerve-fraying sound as she mumbled almost incoherently from under the thick blanket, "More sleep, thank you.."

She tightly wrapped the warm blanket around herself and curled up on the bed, just about to fall asleep when another sound shattered the comfortable silence.

"Cecily!" A woman's voice called from somewhere else, most likely a considerable distance from the girl's bedroom if one judged by the timbre and general softness of the call. "Get up! You're gonna be late for school if you don't!"

Cecily sighed, tiredly drawing herself up on the bed and impatiently shoving the hair out of her face. Her messy, disheveled but glorious mahogany hair cascaded a fair ways down her back like a thick curtain of brown-red silk ribbons. Her complexion had a touch of tan on it, not too dark and not too pale, but something in between due to her time being spent mostly indoors. Her fine-boned features and elegant sweeps of her cheekbones made her pretty enough, but she looked fatigued with the dark, half-moon shaped smudges under her eyes. Her eyes were the color of old gold, reminiscent of a hawk's, but they were dull.

She stumbled out of bed, stretching with a wide yawn and letting her arms fall to her sides. She felt something strange on her front and glanced down to see an old white smock, faded and covered with dried old paint splatters and smears.

Staggering forward slightly like a drunk, she steadied herself on one of her many easels. Glancing up at a scratching and whimpering sound at the door, she picked her way across the mess on the floor to open the door. A dog came in, looking up at her with friendly chocolate eyes as it barked at her. It was a mutt, with colors marbling into its coat; gold, mahogany, black and white swirled into its coat, patches of specific colors fading into another. There was a splash of ivory at its tail as it waved like a flag.

"Breakfast time, Rex?" Cecily asked in amusement, to which he barked at. He turned around, waiting at the doorway and letting out an impatient groan. She chuckled and reached around back, undoing the strings of her smock before ducking out of it. She hung it on a hook beside the door as she followed the family pet out, walking down the hallway as the clicking and scraping sound of Rex's nails struck the floor.

_Click, scrape. Click, scrape. Click, scrape_ was the familiar rhythm of his casual walking. She heard it every morning when he greeted her to lead her down to the kitchen where breakfast was in the making. It was usually her mother that cooked, but since she was away early for one of those business meetings that lasted forever, her father-

Oh, no... her father was making breakfast.

Cecily sighed, knowing what that meant, and hurried after Rex. She glided down the stairs, walking through the short hallway that would lead to the kitchen. Her suspicions were correct, because there was a slightly opaque haze that hovered in the air.

"Dad! Did you check the settings for the toaster?!" She yelled as she stepped into the kitchen, backing away at the thicker haze in the place, coughing a little at the acrid smell of smoke. She thought inwardly with a sigh, _I guess I'll have to fix myself breakfast if I want to eat something edible._

"No!" His voice cried. "Wait, you have to check the settings?!"

Cecily walked into the kitchen again, squinting through the haze of smoke to see her father in a red and white plaid apron with the words 'Kiss the Cook' on the front. In his defense, it wasn't really his, it was her mother's. He was obviously very clumsy in the kitchen, and therefore, he wouldn't be the type to wear that sort of thing. He could have just let Alfred or even Lily do the cooking for the morning, but no. He just had to do it himself because he was too macho, tough guy to admit that cooking wasn't in his repertoire.

"Yes, dad," She replied in annoyance, unplugging the toaster. The black slabs popped up higher than she expected. She ducked, letting the smoking hot black slices land on her father.

He quickly batted them off and hopped back from them.

"You toasted some hockey pucks," Cecily remarked, nudging one of the burnt slices with her slipper-sheathed foot. "And what about the pan?"

He straightened abruptly and looked at the pan in panic. It was on fire... literally. He quickly poured water before Cecily had the chance to warn him, which only made the fire problem worse. She closed her eyes as he yelped and ran away from the kitchen, leaving her to quell the fire problem.

Opening a nearby window to let the smoke out, she grabbed a red fire extinguisher and popped the pin. She aimed the hose and squeezed the handle, solving the fire problem in two seconds and looking into the pan. It was almost unrecognizable, but she was able to identify it as fried eggs. Rephrase: _burnt _eggs. She saw a tiny tongue of flame still on the stove, quickly snuffing it out with the carbon dioxide extinguisher.

Replacing the fire extinguisher on its respective place on the wall, she pulled herself a chair and heavily fell into it. A man walked into the kitchen, probably in his early twenties, and took the pan, scraping the contents into the garbage can. He looked at the black bacon and dumped that into the garbage with the slabs of charcoal called toast. He was handsome, long blond hair tied into a ponytail and green eyes like flawless emeralds.

"Can someone make some coffee?" Cecily moaned, a curtain of her mahogany hair obscuring her face.

"I thought you said you couldn't stand the stuff," The man joked, proceeding to wash the pan. He chuckled, "But there's fresh pot over here. Want me to make you a cup?"

"Please," Cecily mumbled, resting her head on her arms.

Alfred set down a mug right beside her, eliciting a soft plunk as the earthenware cup struck the wood. A few minutes later, there was the sizzle of bacon landing on the hot iron pan. She gratefully took the mug, taking a long swig of the hot bitter brew. It burnt her tongue, but the pain and the bitterness helped to sharpen her senses.

"So, why do you want coffee all of a sudden?" The blonde man asked lightheartedly, glancing over his shoulder to look at Cecily.

She gave him a look and answered, "I don't like it, but it helps me wake up. Caffine and all that, you know? Besides, I don't want to fall asleep on my paint tray. My mornings are hard enough with you and father cooking; it would be agonizing if I have to wash the paint off my face."

"Good answer!" Another female voice said from the stairs, laughing heartily. A large, big-boned woman walked into the kitchen/dining room, chuckling. She was older, with gray hair streaking at her temples, but she radiated with mirth and energy, which helped to liven up the room. Her ebony skin stood out as a stark contrast with Cecily's comparatively pale contrast as she sat down beside the girl, still chuckling. She slung one arm over the younger girl's shoulders and smiled down at her. "Girl, you certainly know how to handle nosy men. Welcome to the club."

"Thanks, Gertrude," Cecily smiled at the older woman. She threw out the question as Gertrude was settling into a chair, "Anyone know where Lily is?"

A question at the doorway answered her half-hearted query, "Who's burning the bacon?" A woman stood there, someone in her early twenties, and still wearing fleece PJs. Her long black hair had violet streaks in it, and she had a made-up face. She had very similar features to Alfred and Cecily, something in between them, really.

Cecily barely had time to be amazed that her sister had already applied makeup when the words clicked.

She _did_ smell something burning.

"Alfred, the pan!" Cecily cried, noticing the smoking coming from the pan.

Alfred jolted and grabbed the pan, dumping the contents on the towel to drain before making a beeline to the sink, turning on the water and sighing as the hissing sound of sizzling broke out. There was a large plume of steam as the cool water landed on the still-hot metal, causing Alfred to turn away from the humid steam.

As Alfred was setting the pan back on the stove, Cecily marched over to the fridge and grabbed the carton of eggs. She handed it to her brother before grabbing a small bowl of berries and a tub of plain yogurt, nudging the door shut with her arms occupied. She ducked around Alfred and set her things down on the counter, taking out the blender and dumping pretty much everything in it. Flitting over to the fridge again, she grabbed the OJ, setting the big bottle down on the counter as she picked up a bottle of honey and drizzled some into her mix. Adding a splash of orange juice to keep the blender from getting stuck, she started it, arm draped over the lid as the mix whirled inside the glass container.

Cecily grabbed herself a tall glass, stopping the blender before she popped the lid open.

"Hey, Clarissa!" She greeted to a tall South Asian woman, a little louder than necessary thanks to being deafened by the loud blender. The woman had skin that reminded Cecily of almonds, and soft gray eyes. Everything about that woman was soft; soft features, soft hair, soft expression. "How's Amber?"

"Good morning, Cecily," The woman greeted, her voice holding no accent as one would expect. "And she's better than yesterday."

As Alfred was setting the plates, Cecily poured her smoothie into her glass, filling it to the rim before walking toward the table.

"You want some bacon and eggs?" Alfred asked her, to which she shook her head to.

"No offense, but I don't feel like dying today," She replied, apprehensively eyeing the half-burnt bacon. While it wasn't as badly burnt as her father's attempt, it still looked unappetizing, to put it very mildly. She raised her smoothie glass as she added, "I'm gonna stick with this, if you don't mind."

Alfred shrugged, sliding their father his plate.

As everyone was eating, Gertrude asked, "So, why you got paint all over your arms, girl?"

Cecily blinked at the older woman before glancing down at her arms, seeing her pale tan skin streaked with brown, white, and black paint. "I was up all night trying to finish my project," Cecily admitted. "I could show it to you after school, if you want. But I'm really gonna be busy with the school play."

"Oh, right!" Gertrude snapped her fingers. "You're the one painting the props and backgrounds, right?"

"Yup," Cecily said, chugging down her drink. She had to get to school pretty soon, along with her sister. "Lily, we better get going soon. We're gonna be late if you don't finish up."

"And whose fault is that?" The other girl shot back, forking the half-burnt bacon into her mouth. "I told you to get up at seven-thirty!"

"Sorry, but that painting meant a lot to me," Cecily said defensively, eyeing her older sibling with some dislike. When Lily wasn't teasing her, she was admonishing her.

"You mean the painting of grandpa and his pets?" Lily taunted, obviously knowing which nerve to strike at the worst of times.

"They weren't pets," Cecily stated, barely controlling the spark of indignation that ignited within her. "They were like family. Skye and Soran especially..."

"Cecily, Lily..." Their father warned, giving them knowing looks. Both girls glared at one another for a moment before returning to their meals, sullen silence falling between everyone at the table.

Cecily drained the last of her smoothie and stood up, muttering, "I'm gonna get changed."

She quickly went up the stairs, followed by Rex. Walking into her room, she closed the door just after Rex came in. Grabbing her school uniform, she changed out of her PJs and into the uniform. She smoothed down her pleated skirt before looking over the clutter that was her room.

A large section of the blue-gray carpet was covered in old newspaper, vivid colors splashing the paper from some of her drippy mishaps. There was a large canvas propped up on an easel, the painted picture swathed in brown and white, much like a sepia photo. It was the picture of an old man, his white beard stark against the dark brown. Amongst the wrinkles around his eyes, there was a vivid blue, so pristine and clear she could mistake it for the sky if she stared hard enough. Perched on his gloved fist, a peregrine falcon was there, gazing at him with its sharp gold orbs. Their eyes were the only color she had added in the painting, aside from the brown, of course.

The painting had a special place in her heart, on an entirely different level than her other paintings. For one thing, it was her magnum opus of paintings... and for another, it was the picture of her grandfather with his favorite falcon. She remembered him telling her that the falcon's name was Soran, a fitting name for a creature that could move through the air so gracefully.

Cecily gazed at the corner of the painting; the date and name painted in gold paint with a careful, delicate hand. She picked up a framed photo, exactly like the painting. On the back of the photo, she knew it had the name of the falcon with her grandfather's name scribbled in neat handwriting, along with the month, day, and year that the photo was taken. She stroked the cold metal frame lovingly; it was the only memento she had of her late grandfather, that along with his mews. Her father was a breeder, selling captive bred and born birds for falconers.

"Cecily!" Lily yelled, snapping her sister out of her ambience. "Get down here, we're gonna be late!"

"Coming!" Cecily called back, setting down the picture and streaking out the door. She skidded to a halt, running back to her room and grabbing her bag before darting out again. Rex followed her down the stairs, barking his goodbye as she rushed out the door with Lily.

The brunette didn't notice a pair of gold eyes watching her as she and her sister drove off.

* * *

_Well, I'm happy with the first chapter. I'm going to have to look it over and tweak it, since I pretty much just copied and pasted from one of my pre-typed documents. But once I'm satisfied, I'll work on the next._


	2. What Are the Chances?

_Just a quick note to those who are reading: I'm more accustomed to the English dub, therefore, I will use the English names of the characters and Digimon._

_Once more, the disclaimer: I don't own Digimon or any related trademarks, as they are the property of Bandai. I just own the this story's plotline and original characters in the story._

_So, into the breach once more!_

* * *

**Chapter 2: What Are the Chances?**

School is the same old boring routine over and over. Let's be blunt, everyone thinks that when they have to drag themselves to the same building for the same classes with the same people over and over again. It's dull. Boring. It's maddeningly, mind numbingly, _agonizingly _boring! So boring, in fact, that Cecily felt as though she was going to go brain-dead if she had to put up with it much longer. That's just what schools were like in Japan, with the long hours and grueling schedules. Thankfully, though, that was what the weekends were for, right? To have relaxing breaks?

_Err!_ Wrong!

Not for Cecily. She had a weekend full of going to the school for the same amount of time as in the weekdays to paint. Usually, she found painting fun, but when she can't do what she likes on the canvas, it gets sketchy. The quality of her art degrades slightly, and it exhausts her like no P.E. exercise ever could for a person.

That aside, as she was just walking toward the dumpster where she would be tossing the contents of the trash paper bin she was holding, something crashed into her. She pitched forward with a surprised cry, dropping the bin and scattering the contents as well. She just managed to catch herself before she could land on her face and possibly break her nose, feeling something heavy pin her into the dirt.

"What the hell, man?" She screeched, wriggling out from the heaviness and picking herself up. She dusted the dirt off her uniform and rounded on the culprit, who was lying in the dirt as he groaned. He was a man, about ten years older than her, with shoulder length brown hair. He was well toned and good-looking, but out cold for the moment. Something flashed on his chest, catching her eye as she leaned closer to inspect it. It was a chain necklace with two metal tags adorning it.

"Boss!" A voice cried as an orange, reptilian creature with green eyes and stubby limbs - including his tail. On his arms, he was wearing something like red training bracers. He dashed forward in a panicked manner, lightly patting the man's face. The voice was distinctly male as he quickly and frantically spoke to the man, trying desperately to pull the human man up. But the unconscious man just kept snoozing away, much to the creature's obvious frustration. When he finally noticed Cecily, she was only staring with a head cocked as she stood in a straight, casual stance.

She watched them blindly as she stayed stone still, trying to digest exactly what she was seeing.

"Hey, do you think you can-"

"What's going on?" Cecily asked dazedly, almost to herself as she continued to stare sightlessly past them. She could almost hear the whirring and grinding sounds of gears turning and shifting in her head, trying to click into the right places so that she could scream, run, shout, hop, or even just believe what she was actually seeing. When someone was just frozen in place, it's obvious that something was wrong with their cognition. It was like someone had jammed something in between the cogs of her mind.

Her simple question completely shut the creature up as he fearfully swallowed and stared at her in a frozen state of shock, staying utterly still like a deer frozen before the headlights of an oncoming car. "Uh..." Was all that would come out of him.

"Did someone get the number of that truck?" The man groaned as he stirred, stumbling to his feet as he looked around groggily. "Where did that guy go? I could have sworn he was-"

"Uh, Boss?" The creature asked, sweating a little when Cecily's glassy-eyed stare didn't stop.

"What?" The man snapped, looking irritated.

"What are we going to do... about her?" The creature asked, pointing towards Cecily.

Cecily trained her gaze down, and only then did it click that they were the ones that crashed into her. Her mind was quite slow to comprehend when she was in a state of shock.

"You!" She snarled, her gold eyes penetrating as she glared at them. The man froze, sweat breaking out on his face as her expression softened into a sweet smile, making him wary of her wrath. She picked up the trash paper bin, holding it in front of her as she said in a sugary tone, "I assume you were the ones that crashed into me, yes?"

They both nodded quickly, too fearful to say anything.

"And I assume that you were too hell-bent on your pursuit to even notice me, is that right?" She queried, grinning evilly now.

Again, they nodded, backing away frantically when she slowly advanced. Skillfully, she herded them into the wall, her expression darkening into a storm cloud of anger.

"So then, you were the ones to waste ten minutes of my time, were you not?" She growled, gold eyes flashing angrily.

"Sorry!" They yelped simultaneously.

"You better help me clean up the mess we made," Cecily snorted, picking up a balled up piece of paper and dropping it into the bin. "Maybe then I'll consider forgiving you..." She added under her breath as she picked up another paper.

With three pairs of hands - or claws - they were able to pick up the scattered paper quickly, after which she dumped their work into the dumpster.

"So if you were going to dump it this whole time," The man started, looking at her in confusion, "Why the hell did you make us help you clean it up and put it in the tiny bin?!"

"Because it's fun to see you work and complain," She replied as they walked. "And you don't have to escort me, you know. I'm fine without your help, you're free to go. Now shoo. And by the way," She added, peeking around the man to catch a glimpse of his dinosaur-like friend, "You might want to hide your friend. He's a little conspicuous."

"She's right, you know, Agumon," The man remarked to his partner, giving the creature a knowing look.

"Please don't put me in that thing again, Boss!" Agumon begged, taking a few steps away from that man cautiously.

"You'll only let yourself out, anyways."

"Because I don't like it in there! It's too cramped! How would you feel if you're confined to a small space?"

"Well, this is my world, you know! I don't have to!"

"But how would you feel if you _had_ to?!"

"Hey," Cecily interrupted their arguing, about to say something more when they both snapped agitatedly at her.

"What?!"

She cringed away from their harsh tones, holding the bin up in front of herself as she muttered, "Yeesh, you guys are so easily annoyed. I was going to ask what you were talking about when you said 'that guy'..."

Both of the glanced at one another, their expressions wary as the man spoke, "Uh, kid... Look, this isn't something that we can discuss with you, so would you drop it?"

Cecily wanted to protest, but she settled with a sullen, "Fine..." Narrowing her eyes, she added flatly, "But I'm not going to be so merciful next time."

"Yeah, sure... whatever, kid," The man made a dismissive gesture as he said that, causing her temper to flare.

"And my name isn't 'kid'!" Cecily snapped, glaring at the man as he held up his hands in appeasement. "It's Cecily! Cecily Pinion, and don't you forget it!"

"Pinion?" He slapped his hands over his mouth to keep from laughing. What kind of family had a lame name like that? Pinion? "Well, you're certainly _o-pinionated_, aren't you?" He and Agumon burst out laughing at the awful pun.

"Funny," She huffed, glaring ahead. "Go ahead, hit me with all you've got. Tell me something that I don't know."

"W-why d-don't we p-put a... a pin-ion on that?" The man snickered, gasping as he struggled for air between his bouts of hilarity. Cecily remained indifferent. "Ooh, ooh! I got one, I got one! Okay, why didn't the chicken fly instead of walk across the road? Go on, say 'why'!"

"No!" She hissed, narrowing her eyes at him.

"Because someone took away his pinions!" He laughed.

_Was that really supposed to be a joke? Or is he just demeaning me now?_ Cecily wondered, giving him a flat expression. She was amazed - to say in the least - that he even understood the meaning of pinion.

"Name's Marcus Damon, by the way," He said, shaking her hand. "And this here's my partner Agumon."

"Hey!" Agumon said happily, grinning at Cecily.

"The Ultimate Fighting Team, at your service... M-miss... Miss P-Pin... Pinion..." The last two words and his attempts to say them with a straight face were halting and laced with barely suppressed laughter. He had a twisted expression as he tried not to laugh, his efforts unsuccessful as a giggle escaped him.

_Ultimate Fighting Team,_ huh? She thought skeptically, amusement tugging a faint smiled from her. She suppressed the urge to laugh derisively at his claims, still unhappy about being the butt of his horrid pinion jokes._ Ultimate my backside. At least he doesn't lack confidence_, She thought to herself in amusement.

Cecily huffed at his amusement of her last name, frowning as indignity replaced her earlier amusement. She quickened her pace, entering the building. She stopped Marcus from entering by placing her hand on his chest, smirking knowingly as she said, "Ah, ah, ah... Only students and authorized personnel are permitted in the building, and the campus for that matter. You better scram before I decide to rat you out to Principle Ishida."

"No fair!" They both exclaimed at the same time.

"Well, that's life for ya," She nonchalantly and heartlessly stated, shrugging halfheartedly before withdrawing, slamming the door into their faces. Walking along the hallway, she thought to herself, _That guy was a piece of work. For someone in his twenties, he sure is childish. I wonder if Mom or Dad were like that when they were young. Well, young_er. She shrugged it off, reasoning that it was unimportant. Still, it might answer some questions as to why they had an early marriage. Her mother and father were both in their early forties, and Alfred - being the oldest - was twenty five at least. They probably got married when they were in their twenties, if not younger.

"CeeCee!" A feminine voice cooed as someone grabbed her shoulders from behind. It was a girl about two years older than Cecily, with long mahogany hair tied back into a ponytail. If it weren't for her blue-gray eyes, some might mistake her for Cecily. "What took ya so long?"

"Hey, Naomi," Cecily greeted without interest, brushing off Naomi's hands.

"Did you see that handsome foreign doctor out front?" Naomi asked slyly, poking Cecily's arm. She shrieked like a fangirl when a blond, blue-eyed man walked out into the hallway. "That's him! He's so hot!"

"Doctor?" Cecily asked, arching a brow quizzically. Naomi thought that all foreign guys were attractive. When she saw the man, her other brow rose. She recognized him immediately, "Isn't that guy the Nobel Prize winner? What was his name again? Thomas Something, Thomas Something..."

"Oh, hi, Naomi," The man greeted with a charming smile. He was tall and handsome, blond hair framing his face and pale blue eyes. He was sort of like those classic, stereotypical blond heartthrobs. "Who's your friend?"

Naomi keeled right there, falling dramatically into Cecily's arms, whom grimaced at the theatrics. She sighed dreamily, her tone of voice disbelieving, "He said my name! He actually said my name! I've died and gone to heaven... either that or I'm dreaming. No one pinch me!" It was almost disgusting, how much she sounded like a swooning, love-struck idiot.

"Damn, you're heavy!" Cecily exclaimed, dropping Naomi with an unamused expression. The other girl yelped when the support was suddenly gone, landing on the floor with a thud. "And by the way blondie," She added, looking at the man dead in the eye, "The name's Cecily, Dr. Something. And I think you've just given my friend a heart attack."

"I'm Thomas H. Norstein," He corrected, smiling as he strode up to Cecily and shook her hand. "Pleasure to make your acquaintance, Miss Cecily."

"I would say 'likewise', but I think Naomi is dead because of you. I'll have to make sure that the death certificate says that on the 'Cause of death' line. As her friend, I'll have to testify against you." Cecily grinned. She sort of liked him, seeing that he was very genteel and kindly. It wasn't hard to tell.

"That would be interesting, indeed," He chuckled.

"Owww..." Naomi moaned, propping herself up and glaring at Cecily. "That hurt, CeeCee."

"Maybe I didn't drop you hard enough," Cecily said tartly, narrowing her eyes slightly.

"Um, excuse me," A woman asked, standing beside the man. She was blonde, too, with gentle lilac eyes as she gazed at Cecily in curiosity. Cecily recognized her as Norstein's sister, Relena, the person that he treated and became recognized for. "Are you wearing contacts, Cecily?"

Cecily blinked at the woman for a moment before realizing that she was asking about her eyes. She answered candidly, "No, I'm not."

"Sir," A masculine voice said from somewhere. Cecily spotted a glow coming from Thomas's pocket, blinking as the strange voice continued, "Thomas! There's a Digimon signal not too far from here!"

Thomas nodded in acknowledgement, turning to the two highschool students and bowing as he said, "I have to go. Urgent matters call me away. I'll see you again soon, Naomi and Cecily." He flashed a smile and quickly turned on his heel, taking Relena with him.

_That was strange_, Cecily mused, helping Naomi up.

"Say, Naomi... did you hear that?" Cecily asked tentatively, tipping her head to one side.

"Hear what?" Naomi gave her friend a perplexed expression.

Cecily blinked at the other girl for a moment before sighing, "Never mind."

"Don't do that, it really freaks me out," Naomi muttered.

"Do what?" Cecily tipped her head again in curiosity.

"That. You look like a bird," Naomi said bluntly, indicating to the head tipping habit of Cecily's.

"I don't know. How do you know that I'm not half bird after spending so much time with falcons and eagles?" Cecily asked slyly, grinning devilishly as she made dramatic motions, creeping up to Naomi.

The other girl laughed and ran off, with Cecily hot on her tail.

* * *

"Are you sure you don't want to come with us?" Naomi asked Cecily, who was sitting on a stool in front of a large, rough white canvas. The other girl looked over her shoulder, her sleeves rolled up and her stained smock rustling with the movement. She had a paintbrush held between her teeth as she held a tray of paint, blinking those big gold eyes innocently before she turned back to the canvas, making a dismissive gesture with her free hand. "C'mon, it'll be fun! Just us girls hanging out, eating custard, sushi, and fatty tuna!"

Cecily delicately took the brush out of her mouth and gave Naomi a flat expression. Apologetically, she responded, "As tempting as that sounds, I want to get this done pronto. Some of us have to work on things during the weekend, and I want to get this over with as soon as possible."

"You know you could just say a.s.a.p.," Naomi pointed out.

"I know, I just like to use more words," Cecily grinned, waving her off. "Go, your girly posse is waiting for you out in the hallway. Have some fatty tuna for me, Naomi."

"Will do," The other girl replied, giggling as she flitted out. She poked her head through the doorway and made a puppy face as she asked persistently, "But are you really sure that you don't want to come?"

Cecily, patience spent with her friend, quickly grabbed the wet sponge that was set on the table next to her and flung it at Naomi. The wet object narrowly missed as Naomi ducked, the girl wisely turning ninety degrees and fleeing with her tail between her legs.

Cecily smiled at her friend's fleeting form, shaking her head as she turned back to her pristine, unstained canvas. She frowned, then, when she couldn't remember what she was going to paint. She dropped her paintbrush and her tray abruptly, letting them clatter loudly on the plastic covered floor as she buried her face in her hands, groaning with the frustration. Perhaps she should have taken up the flamboyant girl's offer, but then, being with a group wasn't really up her alley.

Suddenly possessed with the need to get out of the suffocating room, she got off the stool and hauled the smock of herself. She hung it up as she walked out the door, opting to clean up the brush and tray mess when she got back.

As she was walking outside and letting the air brush away her worries, she wondered what exactly happened when she was taking the trash paper out. Her thoughts wandered to the doctor, lingering on that voice and that strange glow. It couldn't be a phone, could it? Not unless he had very unusual voice mails or ringtones. Naomi not noticing anything wasn't all that surprising, the girl hardly even knew half of what anyone was talking about. While Naomi wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed, she was still a good friend.

And that man with the... whatever that Agumon fellow was. He seemed... in a hurry, for lack of better terms. Almost like he was chasing something. But what was he chasing? This school hardly had any anomalies around; in fact, some might even find it boring and dull.

Cecily jumped when she heard a faint rustling. She glanced toward the place where the sound was coming from, swallowing back a scream when she saw the dark, obscured shape of a tall creature. It wasn't human; humans didn't have wings. There was a dull thud when the silhouetted form collapsed.

So much for 'boring' and 'dull'. Things just got slightly more interesting.

Cecily glanced around to make sure that no one else was within the vicinity and crept over there carefully, staying light on her toes and making sure that she didn't make so much as a peep. Pushing the bushes aside to have a better look at it, she saw that it was a black dragon-like creature, four crimson wings protruding from its back. Letting her gaze drift away from the creature, she saw a trail of blood that led up to it, the pieces clicking together in her mind. It was injured.

She bit her lip to suppress a gasp when she turned her attention back on it. Its head was lifted slightly, but the expression was hidden underneath that metallic, featureless mask that it sported.

She could only stare, frozen in place as she waited for the draconic entity to do something. However, the creature only collapsed again.

_Is he dead?_ She wondered, tilting her head to one side as she stared at it for the longest time. Her heart hammered in her chest from the thrill of fear that snaked up her spine, but it faded away quickly enough, leaving only curiosity. Might as well just assume the creature was male and be done with it until it was proven otherwise. _No, he's still breathing_, Cecily noted, watching the steady rise and fall.

_I can't leave him here, it's going to cause a pretty big stir if the staff finds him_, She thought, frowning as she studied his bulk. _And he's much too big for me to drag around without help from someone. Unless... what?_

Cecily withdrew and let the bushes swing back into their original position, picking off the twigs and leaves that ended up snagged in her mahogany hair and uniform. She stared at the objects in her hands for a moment, the cogs of her mind whirring and shifting into place until an almost audible click sounded. She quickly dropped the leaf and the twig, making a beeline toward the school.

She leaned back slightly on the smooth floor to slow down slightly before grabbing the ending of the railing along the stairs, using it to swing around. She flew up the stairs and darted into the room she was in before taking a walk, looking at the large canvas that she was trying to paint before.

"I'm so sorry," She mumbled as she took hold of the canvas.

Cecily dragged the large canvas out and down the hallway, hitting a slight snag at the stairs. She managed to get the canvas outside, find some questionable rope, and create something like a makeshift sled.

He was still there, and still out cold. She sighed and flexed her sore hands, wincing slightly. Her fingers were rubbed raw from wrestling with the rope, and it smarted a great deal. Steeling herself, she slipped into the dimness and bent over, taking hold of his arms and heaving. Damn, he was heavy! She strained and dragged him out of the bushes. When her hands slipped, she gasped and landed hard on her back.

"Why me?" She moaned out loud, closing her eyes and letting out another sigh. Getting back to her feet, she returned to the grueling task of dragging the creature onto the now-dirty canvas, panting when she finally got enough of him on it to readily transport him.

_How am I going to do this? It's crazy!_ She thought to herself despairingly, preparing herself for more rope burns that would inevitably follow with her plight.

* * *

_So... I think we've got a good idea as to who this mystery Digimon is. It will be interesting as to how this natural loner and seemingly normal girl will interact. Oh, the suspense! Yay for suspense!_

_For those that don't catch on, this is set ten years later in the Data Squad universe. You'll find out how this came to be later on. So, in the end, the end of the Data Squad season wasn't over! Looks like peace and tranquility will have to wait a little bit longer for Cecily Pinion._

_I made a pre-typed document with the first few chapters, so don't be too surprised if I have the third chapter up and running sometime soon._


	3. Bird Girl

_Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon or any related trademarks, as they are the property of Bandai. I just own this original story's plotline and the original characters in this story._

* * *

**Chapter 3: Bird Girl**

Cyberdramon stirred, opening his eyes to a familiar tinted vision as a slight groan escaped him. There was a soft sound of burbling over to his right side, causing him to twist his head around. He saw a teenage girl with a comparatively large bird perched on her gloved arm, its crest flaring when it spotted his movement. The bird bobbed its head with another chirp, causing the girl to look over her shoulder. He tensed for a moment, waiting for her to do something, anything as she slowly turned to face him fully. Her eyes were gold, an unusual color for a human as she studied him, her head tipped to one side in an oddly avian-like gesture as her intelligent gold gaze analyzed him.

"So you're finally awake," She remarked, her pensive expression settling into a smile. The large bird leaned over and tweaked her hair, chirruping softly to her. She gave a small, short nod, a cue that the bird took. It spread its impressive wingspan and pumped, gliding over to a perch. It settled down and gazed intently at the girl, cocking its head much like she was doing just a moment before. Some sort of silent communication seemed to pass between them, because the girl addressed the bird, "Don't be causing a stir, Sylph."

Sylph only let out a displeased burble, shuffling her wings slightly in acknowledgement.

"Where am I?" Cyberdramon finally spoke, directing the query to the girl.

"In the mews," She answered shortly, leaning against a wall as she continued to intently stare at him. "The birds caused quite a racket when I dragged you in here. I could barely understand what they were babbling about until Sylph translated for me. So far, half of them have calmed down, but the others are still restless." She hummed in thought for a moment, narrowing her gold eyes for a moment. "If I may be so bold to ask: what happened to you?"

"What do you mean?" He asked warily, wincing when he tried to sit up. _Oh,_ He thought with a cringe, _that..._

The girl sighed, crossing her arms. She whistled to Sylph, causing the large predatory bird to perk up. The large feathered entity flapped to the girl's arm, sidestepping up in a slightly impatient manner.

"Could you go and calm the other's down? They're getting uneasy again," The girl softly requested.

Sylph bobbed her head and winged off, drifting through the open door to another room.

"Now," The girl began calmly, sitting in an armchair as she fixed her amber hued gaze at Cyberdramon. "There are two things I know: one, I met a man named Marcus Damon with an Agumon, whatever that is; and two, I found you injured in the bushes near my school. I can only come to the two conclusions that you were either attacked or pursued by them. I'm not sure if I want to know the reasons, but I would like to understand what exactly is going on. You at least owe me that much after the pains I went through to bring you all the way here," To prove her point, she held out her bandaged hands. "Could you explain to me?"

He looked at her eyes, trying to read what exactly was going on in her mind. Those twin pools were earnest, sincere, not that of someone with malevolent intention. It might be dangerous to place his trust in the girl, but he did owe her as much for the trouble she went through just to help.

Burying his anxiety, he answered a truthfully as he could without feeling cornered, "I came to this world by accident... Marcus Damon and his partner are famous throughout my world as peacekeepers." She nodded, taking it in and encouraging him to keep going, "I ended up here when I was thrown through a portal, but there's little else that I remember."

"I see. Anything else?" She prodded, looking like she knew there was something else he wasn't saying. How could she be so calm?

"What else can I say?" He growled. He narrowed his eyes at her, though she wouldn't be able to see through the mask like he could.

"I wouldn't know, you haven't said it yet," She replied, leaning back in the armchair. "I don't mean to sound like a conspiracy theorist, but something weird is going on. You say that thrown from your world into mine, but what's behind all of it? These things don't just happen, there's probably something behind it. Just like that incident ten years ago..." Her voice trailed off as her eyes took on a glazed quality, staring out the window and into the distance. She shook her head and said offhandedly, "I'm Cecily, by the way. And you are?"

"... Cyberdramon..." He replied without looking directly at her. There wasn't much for him to lose by telling her anyway. What did he have left to lose? His pride? No, he already lost that long ago.

There was an ear-splitting screech that pierced the silence between them, causing Cyberdramon to go rigid and Cecily to sigh in exasperation.

"Eagles are so dramatic..." Cecily muttered as she hopped to her feet, making a beeline to the other room that the large bird flew into not too long ago. She popped her head out the door and her gaze sharpened into a firm glare. In a low, threatening tone, she said, "Stay there or I _will_ medicate you! Screw it if sedatives have adverse effects, you're staying here until I'm satisfied with the conditions of your wounds."

He nodded, knowing just from the tone of her voice that she would make good on that threat if he didn't comply.

With that, she slipped back into the other room where a cacophony of screeching and chirps had drifted out the moment the last words left her mouth.

The noise calmed after a few moments, which made him slightly curious. What could that girl possibly be doing to soothe the cross birds? It caused him to wonder who that human really was. Her calmness with the entire situation was unsettling, to put it very mildly. Humans were usually never so calm in the face of... extraordinary circumstances.

Cecily strode out then, closing the door behind her with an irritated huff.

"Can you stand?" She asked.

Cyberdramon nodded reluctantly as he said, "I can try."

With some help, he was able to walk, but Cecily had support much of his weight due to the deep slash injuries over his chest and shoulders. He didn't like having to rely on a human so much, but she was... different, for lack of better words to describe her.

Cecily led him through a different door, one that he could only assume led out of the mews and into the home.

"Hey, CeeCee!" A voice called; it too loud and slightly slurred. She tensed and sighed.

"Oh, no..." She moaned, pinching the bridge of her nose with her free hand. "It's Micah."

She quickly yanked Cyberdramon back, pressing him into a wall as a man stumbled into view.

The dragon-like Digimon suppressed a grunt of pain as she abruptly shoved him into the wall without warning. He scowled at her, his stormy expression hidden underneath the mask.

"What's up, bird gal?" The man asked, slinging an arm over Cecily's shoulders.

"Please don't call me that," Cecily said nicely enough, delicately plucking his arm off by pinching the material of his sleeve between her fingers, lifting it off herself. She ducked out from under his arm, smoothing out her shirt as he laughed drunkenly. "And the aspirin is in the bathroom cabinet, Micah, if that's what you're looking for."

"You're a saint!" He crowed, stumbling off.

"That was too close," Cecily muttered, she grinned over at Cyberdramon. "Although, I'm pretty sure I could have passed you off as another one of his drunken hallucinations."

"Give me a warning next time," Cyberdramon growled, clutching his bandaged chest. Wait a minute... the armor wasn't there. He glanced down at it in confusion, seeing that the chest and shoulder armor weren't there.

"So now you noticed that," Cecily sighed, crossing her arms. "I had to take them off. It took me long enough to figure out how it works. Don't worry, I've washed off the blood and they're up in my room to dry. C'mon," She added impatiently, taking his arm.

He sighed and went back to leaning on her for support. His legs weren't exactly much use for holding himself up, which really grated on his nerves.

"Just up the stairs and we're home free," Cecily said, sounding slightly tired.

Her voice sounded distant, though, as a buzz settled in his ears. His vision dimmed and flickered before his legs buckled and gave, bringing a very surprised and indignant Cecily down with him.

At the foot of the stairs, out in the open for anyone to see, Cecily found herself trapped underneath the unconscious dragon-like Digimon.

"Cy?" She asked, her lower half completely immobile as she tried to prop her upper body on her elbows. "Cy?! Cyberdramon!"

She leaned her face into her hand and huffed in irritation, drumming her nails on the wooden floorboards as she tried to think of a way out of her precarious situation. It was pretty heavy, and he was warm, but not so much at the same time. It tugged at a red flag in her mind as she glanced worriedly at his bandages. The dark color of dried blood was there, but there was a vivid red that seeped through. His wounds were opening again; if only she could get out from underneath.

A certain dog trotted up to her, tilting his head from side to side in confusion. Sniffing her, he decided that her scent meant she tasted good, because he began licking her cheek, blissfully unaware of the dragon that had her pinned to the spot.

Cecily wriggled around, worming her way out from underneath him and rolling him over on his back with a small grunt of effort. The bandages were still in place despite her squirming, but the wounds were still bleeding. How was she supposed to drag him all the way up the stairs?

_This is gonna be a long afternoon..._ She thought to herself with a sigh.

* * *

Half an hour later, Cecily was panting and exhausted, sweating from the exertion of hauling Cyberdramon's unconscious form up the stairs. She had haphazardly dumped him on the bed, leaving him sprawled there as she caught her breath. She rearranged her canvases and made sure that all of her painting tools and the such were tucked away in her closet, creating some much-needed space in her bedroom. To be honest, her closet was more like a storage area than an actual closet.

Rex slipped in when she wasn't looking, but the click of the door closing is what alerted her to his presence. She promptly shooed him out and closed the door securely, sighing as she glanced over to her self-imposed charge.

She was finally able to take a look at the wounds after washing her hands, remembering the basics of looking after wounds that Clarissa taught her. She gingerly undid the bandages as best she could without moving him, wincing when she saw the sloppily done stitches. Clarissa was the doctor in training, not her! It wasn't pretty, but it did a good job of closing the wounds. Cleaning and dressing the wounds was something that Clarissa taught her as well as her grandfather, helping her to breeze through it. Wrapping the wounds would be a slight problem, though. Cyberdramon didn't look like he was about to wake up anytime soon, which meant she would somehow have to do the wrapping, keep from touching the wounds too much, and keep him from falling off the bed all at the same time.

_What have I gotten myself into?_ She despaired to herself, grabbing the linen from the nightstand and pulling herself together.

Cecily sat on the edge of the bed, carefully pulling him forward until his front half was awkwardly draped over her shoulder. She made the first wind, the second, third. _Yes, yes! Don't wake up, please!_ She thought as she was halfway through the bandaging process. A sharp rapping at the door distracted her for a moment, which caused him to slip. She squeaked and quickly caught him, instinctively leaning in the opposite direction to counterbalance his weight. However, an ordinary teenage girl wasn't nearly as heavy as a relatively well muscled dragon who also happened to be three or four heads taller than her. She couldn't really tell, he was slouching in pain when she was helping him walk, but either way, it was difficult to keep him from toppling.

"Hey, CeeCee, some guy is here to see you," That was Lily's voice, sounding jaded and sour. Cold sweat immediately broke out on Cecily as her anxiety sharpened. "He says his name's Thomas H. Nerdstein, ya know him?"

"Uh, yeah, I think," Cecily was able to respond in a normal voice. "Tell him to wait in the kitchen, I'll be down in a sec."

"CeeCee, he's right here, you know," Lily sounded irritated now. Almost jealous.

"I can just wait in the kitchen, too," Thomas's voice said. "And it's Norstein."

"Yes, please do!" Cecily begged, trying desperately to keep Cyberdramon from falling to the floor. It was difficult when her palms were damp with sweat because of her sister, and he was slowly slipping out of her grasp.

"Sir, I can sense the Digimon signal nearby. I think it's coming from Miss Cecily's room," It was that same voice she heard speaking to Thomas in the school.

The shock caused her to lose her balance. Both Cyberdramon and Cecily fell to the floor with a good thud.

The girl yelped when she landed on him, scrambling off quickly and doing a once over to make sure she didn't reopen any wounds. He stirred and clutched his chest as he sat up with a pained grunt, nearly falling over if Cecily didn't crawl over and support him.

"Cecily!" Thomas cried out. "We're coming in!"

"Don't do that!" She shouted, mostly because she was fearful for her precious paints. It was the one thing that she didn't tuck away in her storage closet. Unfortunately for her carpet, he opened the door. The paint cans and trays toppled with a loud clatter as they struck each other, splattering paint on the beautiful plush carpet.

Cecily cringed at the sounds and sight, biting her lip when she saw the wet paint spill from a can. The paint from the cans gave her a good way to make backgrounds on large canvases, and it was a good way to get rid of leftover paints from the renovations from a few months ago, but now they were making a not-so-pretty scene on the blue-gray carpet.

"I did warn you," She said with a shrug as Thomas stared at the mess. "Well, the carpet was in need of a good replacement, anyways. I never really liked blue-gray, it's depressing."

"There it is, sir!" The mystery voice exclaimed. Cecily could see now that it was coming from a rectangular, blue and white device hanging on Thomas's belt, the face of a blue dog staring out.

"That's an Ultimate!" Thomas said in turn, looking surprised.

Cecily nervously glanced over as the black dragon growled, fearful that he might end up in a brawl that he would ultimately lose. She didn't drag him all the way to her home and patch him up just for him to injure himself further. She was about to say something to keep the two - or three - from getting into a fight.

But then...

"What's going on?!" A voice cried from somewhere distant. Cecily immediately froze in horror; that was her mother's voice. She was going to have a heart attack if she saw this mess, much less the half armored gray-black dragon and a stranger in the house.

"M-mom!" Cecily stammered, swallowing past the fear that seized her throat. "B-back so soon, mom?" Her voice flew up an octave when the form of a woman stepped up behind Thomas.

Her mother shoved Norstein away roughly and squeezed past Lily, walking in as her keys jingled. Cecily's mother was a tall, statuesque looking woman, her dark chestnut hair done up in a neat, professional bun. She was still wearing the slate-gray coat and skirt, the muffled clacking of her high-heels striking the floor cutting through the uncomfortable silence. Her eyes were a very light brown, almost comparable to amber, but nothing like her daughter's clear, bright gold irises.

"Mom..." Cecily began, tightly clutching Cyberdramon's arm in a white-knuckled grip, holding it in front of herself like a shield. It was almost soothing, and she needed one outlet of her stress and nervousness. "Please... don't freak-"

"Your ROOM!" Her mother shrieked in horror, staring at the mess of paint on the carpet. "And the man, and-" She stopped short when she spotted her daughter supporting Cyberdramon, her eyes flickering between the two before she keeled.

Cecily winced when she mother fainted, quickly helping Cyberdramon sit up against the side of the bed before carefully approaching her unconscious mother. She kneeled beside the woman, lightly patting her mother's face as the woman moaned and stirred.

"Mom?" She asked uncertainly, chuckling nervously when her mother opened her eyes, gazing dazedly at Cecily. Silently, she thought to herself, _Wow, this woman recovers quickly._

"What's going on here?" Her mother groaned.

"Uh... Eh... that is... I can explain?" Cecily's tongue tripped over the words.

"Alright, then, explain!" Her mother demanded furiously.

"How about when you're standing up? That way I can take you seriously."

"Smart Aleck..."

Cecily waited for her mother to stand up, backing away to be on the safe side as she felt the glare boring into her.

"Spill it," Her mother ordered sharply, arms crossed as she tapped her foot impatiently.

"Just give me a moment!" Cecily snapped in irritation. She paced around anxiously like a caged lioness, trying to get her blood to flow more efficiently so that she could think. So... what was she going to say? What should she say? Or rather, what _could_ she say? She felt like she was going to snap in half with all the tension that was trapped in her body; flippant, nervous energy bubbling up and boiling over her sense of calm. "Listen-"

"Cecily..." Her mother growled, narrowing her pale brown eyes.

"I haven't even said anything yet," Cecily pointed out, blinking at her mother and tilting her head to one side.

"What were you thinking?!" Her mother shouted in outrage, causing the girl to flinch. Her mother was probably furious if she was yelling at this point. Usually the woman was so calm and level-headed.

"I think you'll tell me in a moment," Cecily muttered under her breath as her mother continued angrily. The ranting went on for several long minutes, to which Cecily sat on her bed to listen to, nodding her head expectantly when her mother paused. It was really better to just let her mom blow off some steam before defending her case. It was like defending herself in court. Her mother was actually a lawyer once, but now she was managing her husband's business of breeding falcons.

"Can I object here?" Cecily asked when her mother paused for the sixth time.

"Overruled!" Her mother automatically responded, with more passion and vigor than Cecily had seen for the past ten years after her grandfather... after her grandfather was gone. And so, the rant continued, with Thomas, Lily, and Cyberdramon all listening with bored interest.

_Where's a knife when you need one?_ Cecily thought to herself, feeling a dull headache settling in her mind. _What kind of ultimatum will it take to get this woman to listen?_

She opted then to tune out the angry tirade, fixing her gaze on the man at the door.

"Thomas," Cecily addressed the older blond man, her expression unreadable.

"Yes?" He prompted warily.

"I'd like to speak with you," She replied, ignoring the incensed woman who was her mother. "You and that... someone else."

Cyberdramon immediately straightened, before wincing at the sudden stab of pain.

_No, don't leave me with these two_, Cyberdramon begged inwardly, feeling a sudden nervousness form in him as Cecily was walking out. The thought of being left alone with Lily and her mother was actually terrifying. _Don't go... don't go..._

Thankfully, Cecily grabbed her mother and sister as she strode out, dragging them carelessly with a blank expression into the hallway with Thomas in front.

"Stay," She said sternly to the two women she dragged out, closing the door to her room. "And you," She turned to Thomas, her stern expression darkening to a scowl. "You've got hell to explain!"

"Alright, alright." He calmly backed away with his hands held up in appeasement. He dug around in his pockets and pulled out a blue device, holding it out in front of himself and commanding, "Gaomon, realize."

"Sir, yes, sir," The voice replied. A blue, bipedal dog with a red scarf tied around his head and large boxing gloves materialized in front of Cecily. Bowing politely, he greeted the girl, "Miss Cecily."

"Miss This, Miss That, Cecily is fine," The girl growled, arms crossed in vexation as she glared at Thomas, narrowing her penetrating gold eyes. "My day has been turned upside down thanks to that guy. Who would have thought?"

"What guy?" Thomas asked curiously. "Are you talking about Cyberdramon?"

"No, my day was ruined long before that," Cecily answered blithely, waving it off. "Some man named Marcus Damon. I think he had a friend with him. What was the dino's name again? Agumon or something? Yeah, they call themselves the Ultimate Fighting Team."

"Yup, that's our Marcus, alright," Gaomon sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose in exasperation.

"CeeCee?" A fluty, soprano voice said softly. Cecily felt her blood turn to ice as she slowly turned to see a small girl standing in the hallway, hugging a stuffed bear that was roughly her size. She was light-boned and young, her silky onyx tresses done up in pigtails that fell about her shoulders. Her eyes were big and amber hued, something between their mother's eyes and Cecily's eyes as they blinked. Flanking her was Rex, who was staring at Gaomon hostilely as he prowled forward, leaning against the little girl to push her back protectively. The girl, however, didn't budge as she flicked her gaze between Thomas, Gaomon, and Cecily, repeating the process as she digested what she was seeing.

"A-Amber, how are you doing?" Cecily asked nervously, swallowing. What was her ill little sister doing out of bed?

"CeeCee," Amber began, fixing her rich gold-brown gaze on Cecily. "Who's that guy? What's that funny looking dog? And what's going on?"

* * *

_So, obviously this Cyberdramon is very different than the one in the Tamers season. But, and here's the juicy part, Cecily wasn't far off when she said that 'these things don't just happen'. The suspense continues..._


	4. Talking Over Tea

_Disclaimer: You've seen it, I've seen it, but I'll just cover the basics. I own this original story's plotline and the original characters in it, but I don't own Digimon or any related trademarks, as they are the property of Bandai._

_It took me this long to post this because I've been plowing ahead and writing out the next chapters, and developing the characters, too. Cecily, mainly. It'll be a while before I post the next, so just be warned._

_R&R please!_

* * *

**Chapter 4: Talking Over Tea**

Cecily felt as if she were the one that was ill instead of Amber, her stomach churning and threatening to heave the contents into the hallway. Her heart hammered in her chest, feeling ready to burst out at any moment as she regarded her little sister. How could she tell Amber? Sweet, innocent, oblivious Amber. Amber was young, but she was not unintelligent, making it complicated for Cecily to come clean about anything.

"CeeCee?" Amber whimpered, more fearfully this time, hugging the teddy bear closer to herself. "What's going on? Why's that man and the weird dog here? _CeeCee?_"

"Amber... please don't freak out," Cecily began, approaching her sister slowly, carefully, like she was approaching a flighty deer. Amber quickly moved over to Cecily's side, one arm clutching the stuffed animal while her other arm was securely wrapped around her older sister's long leg, tightly grasping the denim material of her jeans as she cautiously regarded the duo in front of them.

"Weird dog?" Gaomon asked no one in particular, sounding slightly offended by the unintentionally demeaning term. He turned to Thomas with a perplexed expression, who shrugged.

"Well, I'd say that if I were six," Thomas remarked, earning himself a grimace from Gaomon.

"Amber, calm down," Cecily ordered gently, carefully unraveling Amber from her leg. When she succeeded in peeling the little girl off her leg, she kneeled down and said in a soft but firm way, "Go find Alfred or Clarissa, they'll give you something that'll help you sleep, alright?"

Amber shook her head, saying, "I don't want to go to sleep, CeeCee. I heard some noises and came out because I was scared. Please, CeeCee, don't make me go back to bed."

"I won't make you," Cecily soothed gently, gold eyes filled with indecision as she racked her mind for excuses. "Uh..." It was becoming obvious that she was running out of options. "Thomas, why don't we go into the kitchen? I find that it's easier to talk over tea."

Thomas blinked at her in confusion, but sighed when she gave him a pleading look. "That's fine with me."

Cecily stood to her full height, taking Amber's hand and leading her little sister into the kitchen. She watched as the six-year-old clambered onto a chair before she went over to the kettle in an almost mechanical impulse, filling it with water before plugging it in. As the water was warming to boiling point, she opened the cabinet door and grabbed three mugs and a plastic cup. She set the earthenware mugs on the counter, picking up a few boxes and asking, "What kind of tea do you like, Thomas?"

"I'll take whatever you got," He responded.

She nodded absently as she registered his words, "Gaomon?"

"Green tea would be nice," The dog-like creature answered settling into his own respective chair.

_Green tea it is_, Cecily thought as she dropped the green tea teabags into the mugs, glancing at the kettle from force of habit. It was steaming at that point. She moved over to the plastic cup and asked Amber, "What would you like, sis?"

"Orange juice," The six-year-old replied candidly.

Cecily waltzed over to the fridge, opening the door and grabbing the carton of orange juice. She closed the door and went back to the counter, twisting the cap off and pouring the vivid orange liquid into the plastic cup. Setting the cup in front of Amber, she stated to Thomas, "I'd like an explanation."

She leaned against the counter with her arms crossed, gazing intently at him.

"Well, where do I begin?" He wondered out loud. "Ten years back, there was an international organization called DATS, which Marcus and I were a part of along with Yoshino, Miki, Megumi, Commander Sampson, and Marcus. We were all part of the Japanese branch here in Yokohama. Are you following?"

"Mm-hmm," Cecily replied, unplugging the kettle when it started to wail. She poured the hot water into the mugs, prompting, "Keep going; I'm listening."

As Thomas continued with his explanation, she set the mugs on the table, shoving it towards him and Gaomon as he talked. She cradled her own mug between her hands, listening intently as she sipped the warm liquid. She wore a very pensive expression, trying to digest everything that she was hearing. The taste of the tea was soothing, slightly bitter with a grassy note to it. It was familiar and comforting, reminding her of many pleasant memories.

But the words that came out of Thomas's mouth completely took away that comfort, reminding her of some unpleasant things. Cecily listened as he spoke of Kurata and a Digimon god called King Drasil, nodding absently. Her mind automatically took in the information and categorized it to be stored for later, as she was still a little rattled from recent events and unable to piece everything together quite yet.

Her life used to be completely normal and ordinary, not that she was complaining, and it just seemed like she would have a normal life. Graduate from school, attend university, get good grades and find a good job. As for marriage, she wasn't interested in romance with all the drama, speculations and the such.

She thought back to earlier that day when she ran into that old man, still half-heartedly listening to the doctor in front of her as she reminisced.

While she was dragging Cyberdramon, she spotted on older gentleman. He was fishing, sitting on the railing with a pole in hand, and tipped his hat back when he spotted her and her charge. He hummed in thought as he gazed at her and her burden, stroking his generous mustache in rumination.

"Well, that must be heavy," He finally remarked after a silent moment of contemplation, turning back to his slack pole. "Why don't you just relieve yourself of the burden? You don't even know him."

"You're right, I don't," She responded, a little icily. "But I can't leave him lying around."

"Why?"

"For two reasons: one, it would cause a stir at school if I just leave him; and two, my conscience won't allow it." Her reply was calm and logical, patiently listing her two reasons. The one reason she didn't add was personal and on a need-to-know basis. "Feeling something chewing on my mind isn't a very nice feeling if you know what I mean."

"Your conscience? Or questions of the past?" He asked with curious interest, arching a brow quizzically.

Cecily tensed and looked away. After a long moment, she finally said grudgingly, "Both, I suppose..."

"Which one takes priority?" The old man pressed.

"Hard to say. It depends on how much one values life, I guess," Cecily answered carefully.

"And do _you_ value life?"

"More than anything."

He cackled then, looking at her with his sparkling gray eyes. In those steely hued irises, there was a glimmer of amusement and... admiration? "You strike me as the stubborn and kindhearted type of person."

"And soft in the head?" Cecily asked warily.

"No, no, not at all!" He replied, waving off her suspicion. "More like virtuous. But I also sense that there is more to you than meets the eye." If only he knew just how true his words were. "Here," He tossed her a gray device, which she managed to catch. He added in a soft chuckle, "You may find it useful some day."

"Wha... What exactly... is it?" She asked, tilting her head to the side in confusion. The device was rectangular in shape, mostly dark gray and white with some silver and scarlet embellishments. It reminded her of the creature she was hauling... sort of. When she glanced up, the old man was gone, adding to her confusion. He was there one moment... and gone the next. It was almost like she was conversing with a ghost just then...

_That guy was way out there,_ Cecily thought, smiling a little as she sipped her tea. _But he was... nice enough, I guess.. That is, if you consider strangers with a penchant for fishing, a spooky disappearing act, and a prying personality as 'nice'._ She pondered for a moment and realized something, _Was he... testing me?_

Now that she thought about it, he did keep asking her questions until her answer seemed absolute. _Spooky._

"... Now that DATS has started up again, it falls to Marcus and I to find some new recruits to join," Thomas said, glancing at her meaningfully as his voice broke her out of her ambience. "We were hoping that you might consider joining us along with that Cyberdramon."

"Eh?" Cecily nearly dropped her mug in shock, staring wide-eyed at the blonde guy sitting across from her. "You want me to... to join... No, no, no!" She exclaimed, standing up abruptly and knocking her chair down in the process. She quickly stumbled back, her hands still around her mug as she gripped it tightly. His offer shocked her more than anything, which knocked her out of countenance. Her back hit the counter, trapping her in the kitchen as she said quickly, "Are you insane?! I-I'm just not squadron material! I've got enough on my plate without trying to revive an old organization!"

"And what are you going to do about Cyberdramon?" Thomas asked coolly.

"I don't know, you tell me!" She snapped, her irascibility more from shock than anything. If she was truly angry, her response would be drastically different. Amber looked between them and sighed, leaning her face in her hand as her expression clearly stated, 'here we go again'. The six-year-old had seen too many arguments amongst her family, though she did not entirely understand what the argument was _about_.

"He will have to be sent back to his own world; be it of his own free will or not," Thomas replied. "That can be changed, though. If you become his partner, you can prevent that."

"You know, there's a saying in America," Cecily started, narrowing her eyes, "It's called 'over my dead body'? I'd like to put it down here and now. I'm not - scratch that - I _can't_ join anything like this. I'm only sixteen!"

"Marcus was sixteen when he joined," Thomas remarked.

"That's besides the- he was sixteen?" Cecily couldn't help but to ask. A brief nod answered her question. "That's beside the point! I-I... I can't... I'm not..."

"You can't or you won't?"

"I don't know!" She hissed, setting down her mug on the counter as she tried to organize her cluttered thoughts. Her? Join an organization that fought creatures from another world? No, that just wasn't her cup of tea - no pun intended. It was beyond farfetched. It was beyond deluded, crazy, an utterly nonsensical proposal, pure insanity!

But she was also half tempted to accept his offer.

"When you find out, be sure to come to me," Thomas told her calmly, setting down his empty mug.

Cecily shook her head to clear it and fixed an icy look on him.

"Being an inhabitant of this house, and on behalf of the other members of this household, get out," Cecily growled, quickly seizing him by the collar of his shirt and roughly shoving him and Gaomon out the front door.

She closed the door with a sigh, hearing the soft click and leaning on the door for a moment.

"I'm going to bed," Cecily announced, trudging up the stairs. She needed a break from all of this, and sleep sounded really comforting at the moment. But then she remembered something. Cyberdramon needed a bed. She sighed and continued down the hall.

"CeeCee!" Amber cried, bumping into Cecily's leg. "Can I sleep with you tonight?" She asked, looking up with pleading eyes.

"You... yeah, sure... whatever, Amber..." Cecily muttered, too tired to argue with her little sister.

"Yay! So... are we sleeping with that dragon thingy?"

Cecily immediately froze before relaxing again. She would find a way to solve that problem... eventually.

* * *

Thomas stumbled forward as he was roughly shoved out the door, looking over his shoulder to see that Cecily had already closed it. Trying the handle, he found out that it was locked and sighed.

"Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned..." Gaomon muttered, running his gloved paws down his chest to straighten out his fur coat. He looked at the closed door, then, turning his gaze to Thomas, he asked, "What do we do now, sir?"

Thomas glanced over to his partner before replying, "She's young, and confused. I would be, too, if I was trapped in the same circumstances as her. Let's just give her a little time to herself until she makes a decision. Whatever we do, the next move has to be her choice. I guess we'll have to report to HQ and tell them of the situation."

"You make it sound like convincing her is a military maneuver," Gaomon remarked, glancing at the door once again.

"It might as well be, considering how she reacted," Thomas replied.

"What will you tell Commander Sampson, sir?"

Thomas was silent for a moment.

Until, "We'll have to try convincing him to give her some time."

* * *

It was around seven in the morning when Cecily felt bright light jab at her closed eyes, squeezing her eyes for a moment as she rolled over. She pressed her face into something warm to block out the light that invaded the room, mumbling in a muffled voice, "Just... wait a little more, sun. Come back... come back in an hour." She yawned and curled up against a warm body. Wait a minute... a body? She assumed earlier that it was a pillow. Reluctantly, she opened her eyes a little to see that she was pressed up against a grayish, rigid body. For a moment, she blinked in confusion before letting her gaze drift up, seeing Cyberdramon. Cecily remained that way for a moment before she finally registered what was going on, recoiling in surprise when it clicked. The sudden movement unbalanced her, which caused her to yelp in alarm as she fell over the edge of the mattress onto the floor in a heap of limbs and blankets.

"Had a good sleep?" He grunted, his tone somewhere between amused and irritated. Amber and Cecily must have trapped him in between them last night, it was the only explanation for his otherwise inexplicably bad mood that morning.

Cecily glared at him for a moment as she propped herself up on her elbows, her gold eyes narrowed in annoyance. It was _her_ bed after all.

"CeeCee?" A familiar, fluty voice yawned. Amber sat up, looking between the two groggily. "I don't think that the bed is big enough."

"Obviously not..." Cecily grumbled, rubbing the back of her neck to work out an aggravating kink. She looked out the window and back to the bed, her head tilted to one side in a familiar habit. "Lily hasn't even started playing the piano yet, it must be pretty early... for a weekend."

"CeeCee?" Amber blinked at her older sister.

"Yes?" Cecily prompted patiently.

"It was warm last night," Amber commented, stretching and picking up her oversized teddy bear, squeezing it against her chest.

"Really?" Cecily muttered, but her little sister had ears like a hawk.

"Yes, really," Amber said, fixing her gold-brown gaze on Cecily. "I think your friend-"

"Okay!" Cecily laughed, a little too loudly and interrupting what her little sibling was about to say. Her voice held traces of indignation, caused from knowing what Amber might say. Getting to her feet, she announced, "I'm heading over to the mews."

Briskly, Cecily stormed out of her room, leaving the two alone.

Cyberdramon was stuck with her little sister, which was far worse - in his opinion - than just being stuck with Cecily. He was never good with little kids. He felt suddenly anxious when Amber stared at him for the longest moment, her unblinking amber eyes never losing their intensity for an entire minute. The dragon almost felt like cornered quarry just before a pack of wolves attack.

Finally, _finally_, she blinked and spoke, "Mister Cyberdramon, do you like my sister?"

"... No," He growled. It wasn't entirely true, he did have an inkling of a liking toward her. At the very least, he didn't loathe her, he just loathed the feeling of obligation he felt toward her.

"Why?" Amber asked innocently, blinking again.

For that, he had no answer. No answer that wouldn't upset the little kid, at least.

"CeeCee is just nice, that's all," Amber said, as if reading his mind. She turned a little more stern and added in a huff, "CeeCee helps people because it's what she thinks is right. That's all it is. Think about it."

She hopped off the bed and walked out the door in a same manner her older sister did earlier.

Cyberdramon stared after her for a moment, only one thought crossing his mind: _They're exactly alike..._

* * *

_"Grandpa, what's going on between you and mom?" Little Cecily asked her grandfather, tilting her head to one side as she regarded the old man with her gold eyes, confusion evident in her face._

_"Don't worry, CeeCee," Grandpa said, smiling reassuringly. "It's nothing."_

_"It's not nothing," She replied coldly, her gold eyes flashing in anger. She was six, but she wasn't stupid. When something out of the ordinary was up, she knew it, but everyone treated her like she was just a kid who didn't know anything. It didn't take a genius to catch on to the problems around them. She really hated it. Being _seen_, but not _heard_. "I want to know... mom has been really cranky lately, and she's kind of scary, too."_

_"Why don't we have some tea?" Her grandfather suggested, taking her hand in his withered, wrinkled ones. She looked up at him in confusion, to which he chuckled at, "I always find that it's easier to talk over tea."_

_"Kay!" Cecily cheered, giving his withered hand a slight squeeze in her enthusiasm._

* * *

_CeeCee. CeeCee? CeeCee! CECILY!_

"Huh, what?!" Cecily jolted out of the armchair, gripping the arms of it in a white-knuckled grip as her heart hammered in her chest from being woken up so suddenly. She looked around frantically, trying to figure who it was that woke her - and screamed at her mentally, for that matter. She looked up and saw that it was only Sylph. "Oh, it's you."

_Same dream?_ A feminine voice asked. It was Sylph. Cecily knew what the eagle meant when she said that, and she shook her head.

"It was different this time," Cecily confessed, leaning back in her chair and breathing out a long sigh.

_I could tell; you were mumbling in your sleep instead of screaming_, Sylph remarked, a pensive look in her eyes as she shuffled her wings. _And you know... I didn't hear you screaming last night. That's a good sign, right?_

"I don't know, I may have just gotten lucky last night. But it feels good to have a full night of rest without having to exhaust myself into a zombie-like state."

_Maybe._

"I assume Skye is still sulking?"

_That's an understatement. She's been sitting on her perch and refuses to stretch her wings. She wasn't eating when our food arrived._

There was a long pause between them.

"Say, Sylph? I have a question I've been meaning to ask for a while..."

_Yes?_ Sylph prompted, ruffling out her breast feathers with a soft burble.

"Why is it I can communicate with you like this? I mean, it's sort of... not normal..."

_To most maybe, but you're not normal yourself. You could ask our resident owl and he wouldn't have any answers to that question. Look at your family; would you consider them normal?_

Cecily smiled faintly when Sylph mentioned Speckles, the old owl that her grandfather had raised. In all honesty, Speckles reminded Cecily of her grandfather... a lot. It comforted her somewhat.

"No... probably not," Cecily responded reluctantly.

_It is possible that you had this gift since you were young, and that the traumatic experience of losing your grandfather caused it to become more potent. But that's only a hypothesis; there's no way to prove it, unfortunately. Either way, this is something that you've always had._ Sylph scratched the underside of her chin with a talon, much like a human rubs their chin when they think. _You just never realized it._

"I've had to have therapy more than once because of it."

_So what? Who cares what other humans think of you? It's a gift, not a curse. Most people would kill to have your gift of kenning with other birds. If they can't see your talent, then they're fools. And fools are just irritating to deal with in the first place. Let them whisper about you. Let them talk. If they're going to judge you because of just one aspect, they'll be the douche._

Cecily laughed softly, and a little dejectedly. "Thanks for trying."

_You're very gifted, Cecily. If people around you can't accept you for who you are, then don't bother. None of this means that you're raving mad. Take comfort in that._

"That's my choice, isn't it?"

_Alright, you know what? Forget it. You're impossible._

"Would you prefer me otherwise?"

_Not in a million years,_ Sylph responded. She might have been smiling if she didn't have a beak. _After all, you wouldn't be Cecily if you didn't act the way you were._

"True."

_By the way, how is your father going to react when he sees-_

Sylph was abruptly and rudely cut off when there was a scream. A scream of the masculine type. Micah was sleeping off one of his legendary hangovers, and Alfred probably wasn't even up yet. The only early riser in the family was her father, meaning that was his scream.

Cecily closed her eyes and sighed.

"I think we just found out."

* * *

_I may have to rewrite the previous chapters as well as the typed-up next chapters. It may take awhile for me to post the next one, because I'm be getting picky about the dialogue and the such. Gah, I even hate it myself when I start to get picky about the specifics! But I need to tweak some stuff._

_Oh, well, that's what I get for forcing myself to write when I'm bored._

_And poor Cecily..._

_Yes, Cecily talks to bird. There will be an explanation later on. All good things come to those who wait._

_Hope you at least got some entertainment from this, though!_

_R&R, please!_


End file.
